Funded by the Ontario-China Research and Innovation Fund (OCRIF), this project seeks to investigate strategies such as the application of agromineral amendment (Spanish River Carbonatite, SRC) and implementation of cover crops as a means to improve soil health and fertility in Ontario grape vineyards and tea plantations in Fujian province of Southern China. Partnering with Frédérique Guinel’s lab at Wilfrid Laurier University (microbial analysis), Boreal Agrominerals (SRC supplier), and Hughes Vineyards (field trials location), the Ontario portion of the project is busy quantifying entire system response to the application of these amendments over the period of several growing seasons. In particular, the lab is interested in soil microbial, nutrient and invertebrate responses as well as vegetation (crop, cover crop, and weeds) responses to different amendment combinations. Several additional projects have begun as a result of preliminary findings and include but are not limited to plant tissue silica analysis, a longevity study of SRC legacy effects in the soil after initial application, pigweeds presence in vineyards, and insects in perimeters of vineyards. The project itself has supported graduate and undergraduate thesis projects as well as being a strong focus of all lab volunteers.

This ongoing surveying project is performed in conjunction with the Brock University ecology field course BIOL4P05, Biodiversity in the Biosphere Reserve. The course itself aims to introduce students to ecological monitoring of biodiversity. The eastern red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) is a terrestrial salamander native here to Ontario. It can be found in wooded areas under damp logs and debris or artificially installed wooden planks. The lab is currently in charge of two permanently installed transects which are used to monitor populations in the spring and fall annually. P. cinereusbegis a relatively common and stable amphibian population (IUCN lists this species as being of least concern) and are exposed to minimal disturbance levels during the monitoring process, it is an ideal candidate for outdoor teaching opportunities and long-term monitoring prospects look good.

The objective of the project (which is a component of a larger one with the Université du Québec à Rimouski) is to support the community, in our case, the Town of Lincoln, to define and act on climate and environmental changes that may affect new developments in the future. To do so, the conceptual framework of this project is based on the theory of change and the concept of resilience to climate and environmental changes, which are studied in the context of social-ecological systems. The methodological approach adopted by the group is case study comparison, based on a retrospective and prospective analysis. The methodology is based on techniques used in social sciences including literature review, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, participative observations, network analysis) and analysis of the geological and ecological changes of the coastal areas over time to acquire data.

This research aims to develop and examine how alternative technologies (such as in the case of the OCRIF project with agrominerals and cover crops) can help farmers, from cash crops to vineyards and greenhouses, to enhance productivity in a more sustainable manner. This research is being carried out in Canada, China and Ecuador and involves several grants and components such as assessment protocols for ecosystem services in cash crop systems, connecting plant diversity to invertebrate diversity, use of diversity as a mean of pest control, potential of intercropping to enhancement diversity and productivity, etc.